Jets fizzling as season draws to a close, but insist all is not lost

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — There was no quick way for the skidding New York Jets to put their debacle in Seattle behind them.

DENNIS WASZAK Jr.

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — There was no quick way for the skidding New York Jets to put their debacle in Seattle behind them.

The team lost its hold on first place along with its playoff destiny with a woeful 13-3 loss to the Seahawks on Sunday. Then the Jets waited a few hours on the runway because of lousy weather before heading back to New York in the middle of the night.

"It was really tough," right tackle Damien Woody said Monday. "It's never easy when you lose a ballgame, especially a ballgame of that magnitude and considering we were coming back from the West Coast again. It was definitely really tough.

"On top of that, we were kind of stalled at the airport for a while, so that just added on top of everything that we were going through that whole day," he said. "It was a tough trip all around."

It made for a long and quiet flight for the disappointed Jets, who got back home around 5:30 a.m.

"The weather and deicing and things like that, you know, gave you extra time to watch the tape," said coach Eric Mangini, whose puffy eyes were clear evidence that he got little sleep after his team blew another opportunity to establish itself as the class of the AFC East.

New York (9-6) now sits in third place in the division after falling to 0-4 on the West Coast this season, and needing lots of help to get into the playoffs.

"It's a little bit wacky how it all played out," Woody said. "We had everything in front of us and we didn't take care of our business. Now, we're in a situation where we have to win and we have to count on somebody else to help us get into the postseason. We don't have anybody to blame but ourselves."

The Jets, who after consecutive road wins at New England and previously undefeated Tennessee a month ago became the subject of Super Bowl buzz, now must beat the Dolphins and former quarterback Chad Pennington to have any chance of making the playoffs.

"I think that's made-for-TV and you guys will have fun with that, and you should," fullback Tony Richardson said. "We have to find a way to beat the Miami Dolphins."

With a win and a loss by New England at Buffalo, the Jets win the AFC East. If the Patriots win, New York can still get into the postseason as a wild card with a victory and a loss by Baltimore at home against Jacksonville.

"Even at 9-6 and in the position we're in, all is still not lost," Woody said. "That's the whole mantra right now: Let's put it together for one game and then we'll see what happens after that."

The Jets will have some idea of what needs to occur for them to get into the postseason because the Patriots play at 1 p.m. EST, while New York's game is at 4:15 p.m., as is the Ravens-Jaguars game.

"Things had been in our control and they're not anymore," Mangini said. "The one thing that is in our control is Sunday. That's all you can do. Everything else that happens, happens."

The Jets have dropped three of their last four and appeared out of answers during that stretch. What happens Sunday could go a long way to determining the fate of Mangini.

"The bottom line is we're not worried about whose job is on the line or this or that because ultimately you have no control over that anyway," Richardson said.

Mangini didn't help himself against the Seahawks with three questionable play calls.

The Jets got down to the 2 on their opening possession and, on fourth-and-1, Mangini chose to kick a field goal. With New York trailing 10-3 early in the fourth quarter, Jay Feely kicked a 45-yard field goal with plenty of distance to spare that was negated by a delay-of-game penalty. Instead of letting Feely try a 50-yarder, Mangini chose to punt.

Then, with 2:21 remaining in the game and still trailing by seven, Mangini chose to go for it on fourth-and-2 from the Jets 20 — despite having all three timeouts remaining. Laveranues Coles dropped a long pass from Brett Favre, and Seattle kicked a game-sealing field goal.

"Any time a decision doesn't work, you look back on it and think about how it could be different," Mangini said. "But that's the natural progression."

And Mangini isn't the only one to blame. Brett Favre has played like a 39-year-old quarterback, throwing one touchdown and six interceptions in four games while appearing to lose some of the zip on his once rocket passes.

The defense, which was one of the best in the league early, has failed to generate much pressure on quarterbacks — even against a makeshift Seahawks offensive line that was ravaged by injuries. Nose tackle Kris Jenkins has looked tired down the stretch after a dominating start, and the run defense has suffered. The pass defense is ranked 29th in the league and struggled all season.

"It's not just Brett on offense and it's not just Kris on defense," Mangini said. "It's all of us."